Random thoughts on almost anything and everything, with an emphasis on defense, intelligence, politics and national security matters..providing insight for the non-cleared world since 2005.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Making a Bad Situation Worse

Our new column for Pajamas Media looks at Leon Panetta's leadership at the CIA. A few months back, we described him as the wrong man for the wrong job at the wrong time, and sure enough, Panetta is proving us right. At a moment when the spy agency needs exceptional leadership to minimize damage from politically-motivated investigations, Mr. Panetta is actually making things worse, by creating a tempest over a non-scandal.

Under ordinary circumstances, we'd call for Panetta's resignation, but his potential replacements would be far worse. One name making the rounds is Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry, who served in Vietnam.

I always felt Panetta was a placeholder...I had not heard Kerry's name either, but that would definitely fit with the overall agenda of strategically dismantling our national security apparatus and further depleting our ability to defend ourselves.

Can you blame him? He takes the job on assurances by the Supreme Ruler that there will be no prosecutions, then flack Holder announces he is appointing a special prosecutor to "look into" the charges....

Let me guess, Kerry turns it down and the SR appoints George Soros....

A close associate hints: There's a secret compartment in Kerry's briefcase. He carries the black attaché everywhere. Asked about it on several occasions, Kerry brushed it aside. Finally, trapped in an interview, he exhaled and clicked open his case.

The hat was a little mildewy. The green camouflage was fading, the seams fraying.

"My good luck hat," Kerry said, happy to see it. "Given to me by a CIA guy as we went in for a special mission in Cambodia."

Kerry put on the hat, pulling the brim over his forehead. His blue button-down shirt and tie clashed with the camouflage. He pointed his finger and raised his thumb, creating an imaginary gun. He looked silly, yet suddenly his campaign message was clear: Citizen-soldier. Linking patriotism to public service. It wasn't complex after all; it was Kerry.

John Kerry "served in Vietnam" and then gave the following statement (reproduced only in part here):

I would like to talk, representing all those veterans, and say that several months ago in Detroit, we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged and many very highly decorated veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command....

They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.

Excerpt from "VIETNAM WAR VETERAN JOHN KERRY'S TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE, APRIL 22, 1971"

More at https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~ebolt/history398/JohnKerryTestimony.html

Don't worry; John Kerry will not be appointed to CIA with 1 U.S. senate seat already vacant in MA.

If any of you are lawyers do not be offended by what I say next. (Some of my best friends and dearest relatives are lawyers, and my only problem with lawyers is their corrupting influence when elected to state legislatures and the U.S. Congress).

As our congress becomes more of a lexocracy (government by lawyer politicians, for trial lawyers and of the lawyers' clientelle) it also seems to have become more corrupt.

Panetta, as you know, was an elected lawyer, as is Kerry, and an overwhelming number of Obama's cabinet and many of his 40 czars (perhaps more czars, haven't checked in 2 days now).

Well, at least we have the Supreme Court for checks and balances, right? - Lawyers! Not required by our Constitution, however. Hmmm.

I am surprised how many Americans vote for candidates without any knowledge of the candidates' law school attendance. What is not surprising is how many candidates are practice law, but claim to be "businessmen".

Some interesting points there but with a Dem governor in Duvel Patrick (Harvard Law, btw), and keeping the royal succession to replace Kennedy in mind, I wouldn't be surprised to see him appoint two new liberal stand-ins.